The Reversal Effect
by Roadd
Summary: Ciel's dreams are plagued by a mysterious, faceless man. Ciel must solve this mystery while learning the truth about his parent's death.
1. Chapter 1

Ciel awoke that morning to the warm rays of the sun peeking through the slits in his blinds bringing him gently out of his dreams. The face of the mysterious man faded into black as Ciel opened his eyes squinting and shielding his eyes from the brightness of the day. The final remnants of the dream disappeared as the boy pulled himself up and out of his bed making his way into the bathroom to relieve himself. Ciel examined the peeling dark green paint around the edges of the bathroom feeling as though it looked weirdly familiar like he had seen it somewhere else. He dismissed the thought and tip-toed over the cold tile to the sink where he washed his hands and placed a small, black eyepatch over his right eye. A ritual he was all too familiar with, he heard his parent's voices in his head, reminding him to always wear his eyepatch no matter what. Which was quite contradictory, in his opinion, considering they always told him how special and unique he was. A knock on the door brought Ciel out of his thoughts and he made his way to the door of his room to open it.

"Yes?" Ciel peeked out of a small crack in the door. Standing in front of him was Finny, a young looking blonde boy with a rather interesting fashion sense, but more importantly, his roommate.

"We're going to be late for class if you don't hurry up Ciel,"

"I don't want to go," Ciel snorted attempting to slam the door in Finny's face, but his roommate was keen to his ways and had already forced his way into his room.

"Stop being a lazy piece of crap and get dressed,"

"Finny, I-,"

"Just do it!" his voiced echoed throughout the room as Finny shot Ciel an angered stare daring him to try to make another excuse.

"Fine, just get out, so I can change," feeling defeated he made his way over to the closet and pulled out a plaid shirt and some jeans, a fail-proof outfit.

"No, just change in front of me," Finny's gaze was unwavering and slightly threatening.

"What do you mean, you pervert?" he was slightly pissed off now not understanding why Finny was being so aggressive.

"We don't have all day and you tend to take your time, so hurry up and change. It's not like I haven't seen your body before. Come to think of it, I've seen your dick. So dude, let's go," Ciel rolled his eyes before removing his boxers and replacing them with new ones keeping his eyes fixed on the wall. He pulled on the rest of his outfit adding a chain necklace, his father's ring and his favorite pair of Vans. Ciel thought he was pretty stylish, at least compared to Finny. The blond wore a Hawaiian shirt and cargo shorts, tied together with a pair of flip-flops. Stylish.

"Okay, l'm ready." He presented himself before his roommate fully dressed. Finny patted Ciel on the back giving him an unreadable look before exiting his room.

The university bus was always questionably late, students just assumed the driver was sitting in some parking lot jerking off between runs or something.

"What's the point of going to class when it starts at 9:30 and it's 9:29. Bus isn't even here and probably won't be for a while," the blue-haired college student sighed, annoyingly, wishing he was back home in his bed.

"We could always ask Lizzy if she can give us a ride,"

"Um, how about no,"

"She's just going to give us a ride, not suck your dick. Although, I'd be down to see that," Finny raised his eyebrow at Ciel waiting for a response.

"Finny, why are you so vulgar all of a sudden?"

"Sorry, been hanging out with Baldroy too much," he confessed in agreeance.

"How about we call Lizzy and have her give us a ride downtown. I want to see Lao,"

"Are you serious? I can't cuss but you can go buy drugs?" Finny questioned completely dumbfounded at his remark.

"Shut up, It's not like that!" _But it was totally like that._

"Why are we such bad students? Fine, but you call her since she is your girlfriend," Finny turned away retrieving a cigarette from his pocket to light.

"You smoke now?"

"Baldroy's a bad influence, what can I say?" he shrugged, bringing the flame of his lighter up to the tip and taking a long drag before exhaling it into the wind. Ciel pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and began to dial Lizzy's number. Pressing call, reluctantly, the phone sprang into action ringing over and over until a familiar voice answered.

"Ciel? Ciel is that you?" a tender voice spoke ever so quietly.

"Yeah, it's me,"

"What is it?" her voice was raspy as if she had just woken up and she confirmed it with a yawn at the end of the question.

"Well, Finny and I, uh, were wondering if you could give us a ride downtown?" his heart started to beat a little faster. _What if she doesn't approve of this?_

"Sure, for what? I wasn't going to class anyway," Lizzy giggled starting to sound like her usual self again.

"We're going to see Lao,"

"Ooohh, I want in. I'll even pay if you want. Daddy just left me some money for food, but this is definitely more important than food," Ciel could tell she was excited about their upcoming excursion.

"Okay, pick us up from my apartment,"

"Sure, see you in a bit," with that Ciel hung up the phone and motioned to Finny to follow him.

Ciel dropped his backpack on the floor in front of his bed before plopping down satisfactorily and closing his eyes.

"Baldroy and Mey-Rin want in," startled, Ciel jumped up looking over at Finny who was approaching him quickly from the living room.

"What?"

"They want some from Lao and since Lizzy is paying I figured it would be okay," Finny trailed off not sure if he had overstepped his boundaries.

"She likes them so it should be fine, but they are definitely not coming with us. They can meet us afterward." He ended the conversation by turning away from his roommate so that he could rest for a while before Lizzy arrived. Images of a tall, slender yet faceless man plagued his thoughts. _Who is this person? Why can't I remember his face? Ciel drifted into a deep sleep; his dreams overtaking his mind. The real world, slowly, fading away. The slender man slithered out from a Victorian style door inside an extravagant mansion making his way toward Ciel dressed in a well-fitted black suit. Each step he took seemed to vibrate the entire room disrupting the integrity of the dream._

 _"Hello Ciel," He spoke, but the words were muffled as if he were underwater. Closer and closer the man came, at this point, destroying the very framework of the fabricated land. With a final stride, he reached for the boy placing his hand on top of his shoulder before leaning in close. Ciel looked up to see the man's eyes as clear as day shining a deep scarlet red that pierced his soul. All the warmth escaped from Ciel 's body as the man licked his lips and whispered,"Ciel."_ Shivers erupted throughout the boy's entire body as he was catapulted awake.

Lizzy's car, a brand new black Mercedes, jetted 20 mph over the speed limit towards downtown with Finny and Ciel in tow. Her aviator glasses reflected the colors of the city complimenting her golden hair flowing in the wind.

"So what are we getting Ciel?" Lizzy asked, obviously, accustomed to these types of things.

"Acid, probably or maybe shrooms," _I, probably, sound stupid._

"Good choice. Good choice. We can get more bang for our buck with tabs, but shrooms are always fun," merging lanes, carelessly, she shifted gears before speeding onto the freeway.

"Tabs then. Baldroy and Mey-Rin will be joining us as well, so keep that in mind,"

"Got it." The remainder of the drive was silent the air teeming with anticipation, excitement and fear. Lao's house was on the east side of town behind an old shoe factory tucked away beneath the tall buildings that surrounded it. A perfect place to do and sell drugs of all kinds. Lizzy parked about a block away, placing a few quarters in the meter before beginning to walk down the street. They rounded the corner and opened the front gate to a modern looking black and white house that contrasted the other dilapidated buildings in the area. Lao was sitting outside on the porch of his house with a petite woman perched upon his lap. They were both of Asian descent. Lao, presumably, Chinese characterized by his smaller eyes and the woman possibly Vietnamese or Thai characterized by her larger eyes. The gang bounded up the stairs and joined Lao on his small patio that included a fire pit, table, and a few luxurious chairs.

"Come. Sit," Lao motioned towards the group, nodding and pointing to the seats nearest him.

"So what can I do for you?" Ciel eyed their traditional kimonos curious as to their choice of clothing.

"We're looking for some tabs," Lizzy spoke effortlessly, her expression blank and emotionless. Lao simply smiled before reaching into his pocket and removing a sheet of tabs. Discussing the terms of the deal Lizzy passed a few 20's to Lao before shoving part of the sheet into her pocket and turning back towards Ciel and Finny.

"Let's go,"

"Already?" the boys were quietly conversing on the side so they didn't know what was, actually, going on and were surprised at how quickly the transaction went down.

"Unless you guys want to come in and hit the bong, our business is done,"

"Nah, we're good," Ciel dismissed the request walking down the steps retreating from the situation pulling Finny away with him.

"Stop by anytime guys." Lao waved at them from the porch sporting his signature grin not taking his eyes off of them until they rounded the corner.

"Tell Baldroy and Mey-Rin to meet us at my apartment. We're in for a wild ride!" Lizzy squealed, throwing her car into gear and speeding away.


	2. Chapter 2

Ciel and Lizzy were seated side-by-side on her love seat, a quaint brown leather chair positioned perpendicular to the television. Finny was sitting on the floor in front of Mey-Rin and Baldroy who inhabited the other sofa. There were fairy lights strewn around the room illuminating every corner of her rather large apartment. The air was stained with the scent of apple spice candles and the lingering of her perfume. Ciel had only been in Lizzy's apartment a few times before since they, usually, just hung out at his place. No parents to randomly pop in and see what you're up to. The TV was on some reality show consisting of a group of women shopping and complaining about mundane things. Lizzy pulled out the tabs and sat them on the table before heading towards the kitchen to retrieve some beverages. She sat a few bottles of water and juice on the table in front of them along with some crackers.

"Oh, Ciel, I almost forgot. I wanted to show you something," before Ciel could respond his girlfriend was running up the stairs to her bedroom returning a few seconds later with a picture in her hand.

"My dad brought this picture to show me. It has our parents and a few of their friends from college," she passed the picture to Ciel before plopping down beside him and cracking open a bottle of water to sip on. There was a total of 7 people in the picture, Lizzy and Ciel's parents, their friends Diana and Nick and then a man Ciel had never seen before.

"Lizzy who is this?" holding the picture up to her face he pointed to the man.

"His name is Sebastian, he was their friend too, apparently. Dad says he still lives here in London. I didn't know who he was either so I asked." Ciel couldn't take his eyes off the man in the picture because he looked oddly familiar. His slender build, choppy black hair, and brown eyes were all too eerie. While the others were chatting about the show that he now knew was Keeping Up With The Kardashians, he looked up the name Sebastian along with the name of his parent's college, Dreyr University. The top link led to a newspaper article from 4 years ago that included a picture of Sebastian which read:

 _April 27th, 2012_

 _Multiple calls have been placed to the local police department from people concerned about sounds and things they have seen around the house on 564 Trancy Lane, owned by Sebastian Michaelis. Michaelis graduated from Dreyr University in 1978 moving on to become a well-renowned scientist at Avarro Corp. The first call was received on October 29th, 2011 from a neighbor walking their dog around 6:35 p.m. The neighbor reported hearing loud metal scraping, chanting, and large gusts of wind from inside the house. Never having heard these noises before the concerned neighbor called the police. The police arrived and found Michaelis watching TV in his living room. No audible sounds or noises were heard by the local authorities._

"Ciel!" Lizzy screeched in his ear bringing him back to reality.

"Huh?" he looked up to see that everyone was looking at him wanting to get the party started.

"You ready?" Finny asked now sitting on the arm of the chair beside him.

"Ye-yeah," Ciel managed to stutter out before ripping a tab off and holding it in his hand. This batch had a tiny picture of the Jetson's printed onto the surface, their smirking faces stared up at Ciel almost mocking him.

"Alright let's do it then," Lizzy said, nonchalantly, before placing the small square onto her tongue. She scooted a bit closer to Ciel getting herself into a comfortable position before the effects kicked in. Everyone followed suit, but not without a few deeps breaths and brief moments of fear. The gang sat around eyeing the TV and each other, anxiously, waiting for the tabs to kick in. After about 45 minutes Baldroy chimed in curious as to how everyone else was doing.

"Hey, you guys feel anything?"

"I don't know," Finny stood up to stretch only to sit back down immediately.

"Woah, that did it. Stuff's starting to look weird," he trailed off staring into the corner of the room looking for answers. Ciel glanced up at the ceiling only to see that the ceiling was now a wiggling, wobbling ocean of white.

"Guys, is the ceiling moving?" Ciel slurred out, surprised by his speech he turned, jumpily, toward Mey-Rin who was now talking.

"Yeah, it's uh….it's definitely moving. Kinda scary actually," Ciel brought his hands up level with his eyes before wiggling them about. Colors exploded around his hands following them in the patterns that they made. Completely involved in his own actions Ciel failed to notice Lizzy who was now leaning, heavily, against him while laughing uncontrollably.

"Lizz, you okay?" the boy managed to get out through his sloppy speech.

"Did…...did you..did," Lizzy gasped for air as she laughed not being able to get out the words she, simply, pointed at the TV. Everyone turned towards the TV that was now playing a different, yet similar reality show about another group of women, but this time their heads were bulging and fluctuating in size. Ciel and his friends all burst out laughing, the women's changing head sizes being the funniest thing they had ever seen in their entire lives. Tears welled up in Ciel's eyes as he laughed not being able to stop since the sound from the TV reminded him of how funny the show was. He reached for the remote and promptly turned the TV off, finally, silencing the sound. After a few more minutes of gasping and laughing the gang caught their breath and were, calmly, enjoying their individual highs.

"Ciel, I can't read this. It just doesn't make sense," Lizzy prodded him putting her phone in front of his face.

"What?" Ciel grabbed the phone only to realize his motor skills were gone. His wrist backward unable to hold the phone up.

"Oh my god, this is ridiculous," he put the phone down on his lap and stared at the screen that was open to a drug forum discussing the effects of LSD. The words didn't make sense and Ciel couldn't tell why. Trying to hold in his laughter about the duck icon on the forum he scrolled up and down the posts until it hit him.

"Lizzy, it's gibberish,"

"I know, my brain can't read anymore," holding her head between her hands she turned towards him, dizzily, staring into his eyes.

"No, it's actually gibberish. Just random letters in a paragraph," Lizzy swiped the phone from his lap scrolling ruthlessly.

"I thought I was going crazy," she locked her phone screen with an audible click before placing it on the glass table in front of them.

"Let's just listen to some music. Probably something without words," Finny suggested, now slouching against Ciel from the other side. Lizzy stood up making her way over to a pink Ipod speaker. She scrolled through her music before settling on an EDM playlist that she deemed the safest option. The music sprang into action filled with the sounds of electronic pop remixes, dubstep, and everything in between. After several hours of laughs and stupidity the effects began to wear off and the group finally began to fall asleep exhausted from the trip.

 _A faint whisper tickled Ciel's ear alerting him to the close proximity of the person who uttered the barely audible sound. The stars shone overhead sending beams of light through the windows that towered above him. His eyes blinked open beginning to take in his surroundings, those of which seemed all too familiar. An intricate chandelier swung, ever so slightly, above his head causing the gems to clank faintly reminiscent of a ticking clock. Ciel pushed his tired body up from the floor before making his way over to the enormous windows lining the side of the mansion. Outside the window was nothing but darkness and stars with a faint red glow in the distance. Mesmerized by the view Ciel failed to notice a pair of slender arms snake their way around of his waist. Ciel attempted to turn around to see his attacker but realized his body was frozen in place. He questioned whether it was due to fear or some other worldly reason he couldn't even begin to fathom._

 _"Ciel, I've been waiting," the words echoed throughout Ciel's head having heard them internally rather than externally. Unable to move or even speak Ciel shut his eyes trying to block out everything that was happening, but he was, suddenly, overwhelmed by an intense burning sensation. Where the man once held him was now a sea of flames, he was on fire. His clothes began to burn and stick to his body as he fell to the floor screaming in agony. On the other side of the room stood the familiar man glowing in the star light casting an, intimidatingly, large shadow across the wall behind him. Ciel caught a glimpse of the distorted, monstrous shadow that would haunt him for days to come before his vision faded to black._

The ceiling in Lizzy's living room came back into focus as Ciel was brought out of his nightmare. He looked around to see everyone still peacefully sleeping in their same spots, except Lizzy who was just waking up as well. Ciel smiled, groggily, before the pain hit him. Bathroom. Now.

"Oh my god. My insides feel horrible," Ciel retorted while running towards the bathroom. Plopping down on the toilet he pulled out his phone to pass the time while he released the demon inside of him. He knew that acid gave most people gas, but he never expected it to be this bad. His phone was still open to the article he had been reading earlier, so he scrolled down to the next article dated later that year.

 _September 3rd, 2012_

 _Police are investigating a possible connection between the 5 recent missing person cases this past month. The missing persons were all between the ages of 18-23, male, and worked in the Virenta Shopping Mall located on Lexington Avenue. Friends and family of the boys stated that they recently started talking about a recurring dream they were having about a man in a black suit speaking to them telepathically. Something their families brushed off thinking they were, simply, bad dreams and not something, possibly, much worse. Authorities are still discussing possible connections between the other missing person cases from earlier this year. Search and rescue teams have been deployed around their homes, schools, and workplaces with weekly meetings every Wednesday at 6pm in the Oakhurst Community Center. To see further updates please visit our website or follow us on social media._

"Ciel!" Startled by the sudden pounding on the door his phone flew out of his hand landing face down on the tile. He, fearfully, reached for his phone turning the phone over to eye the damage. His Dark Souls themed background stared back up at him through a perfect non-cracked screen allowing Ciel to let out a sigh of relief. After he was finished, he opened the door to see everyone sitting on the floor holding their stomachs.

"Me, first!" Lizzy screeched pushing Ciel out of the way and slamming the door closed behind her.

"I feel your pain guys," Ciel patted finny on the head who was rubbing his stomach by the door like the others. His thoughts returned to the article and the dreams the missing persons had before they disappeared. Shivering at the thought, he decided to google the address from the article, 564 Trancy Lane. Google maps displayed a street view of the area which was pretty empty except for a few houses. The one at that specific address was painted different shades of gray and black and had a large circular window in what Ciel assumed was the attic. A chimney snaked its way up the side of the house visibly spewing smoke from within the house. Once the gang was done destroying Lizzy's bathroom they returned to their spots in the living room. They sat in silence for a while watching the TV that was now on a LifeTime movie.

"Hey guys, do you want to go somewhere with me?" Ciel questioned awaiting a response from his friends.

Baldroy eyed him quizzically taking a drag from the cigarette he had recently lit before responding, "Where? Actually wait don't tell me. I like adventures."


End file.
